Nativity Negotiator
by Dixie Dewdrop
Summary: Four year old Tony refuses to participate in the church's nativity, which bewilders his family. This story belongs in my Fate series.


Nativity Negotiator

"Please, Tony," the youth minister begged as he leaned down to address his audience. "Please be Joseph for me, por favor."

Even at four, little Tony possessed a stubborn streak. "No," he replied flatly.

The conversation, conducted in a mixture of English and Spanish, had already annoyed him and Tony resented the minutes the discussion had commandeered from his activity time with his teacher.

Pre-school children at the church at which Maria held membership in Washington were to re-enact the birth of Christ in a church wide presentation in two weeks.

The elementary group had been assigned two songs to enhance and accompany the pre-school contribution.

Therein lay the problem.

Resorting to flattery, the minister prodded, "I want you- te deseo- because I know that you will remember the lines I need you to say. Your Sunday school teacher tells me you are the best of all her students when it comes to memorizing. Eress el major."

Ignoring the praise, Tony crossed his arms across his chest and glared defiantly.

At a stalemate, the minister wheedled, "De acuerdo entonces- All right then, but just please think about it for me and tell me later that you will help me. I really need you."

"I will go back to my class now, dejare." Tony concluded the conversation and strode determinedly to his classroom.

The youth minister watched Tony disappear with regret. He had counted upon the child's cooperation in accepting the role and really thought Tony comprised the perfect choice. Gregarious and adventuresome, the director knew that Tony loved to entertain. Further, the chance of Tony suffering from stage fright was slim indeed.

At four Tony's outstanding looks already caused people to cast second glances his way. Long eyelashes framed bright green eyes and his brown hair was streaked with blond throughout. Though tiny for his age group, he eagerly participated in physical activities and worked well alone or in groups.

Back in the four year old class, the little fellow settled right back into his interrupted Sunday school work. His teacher had gone over the story of the Nativity for the past three weeks and the class busily colored pictures of a manger with the Christ child sleeping in it. A donkey and a camel flanked the baby on the coloring sheet, animal outlines large enough for small hands to fill with color.

Tony leaned his upper body across the top of the table and grabbed a fat red crayon from the selection. As he started to apply it to the camel though, he froze and called out to his teacher. "Maestra, de que color es- what color is the camel?"

His teacher smiled at the serious expression which framed the words. "The camel has fur that is brown, marron o broncearse."

Frowning, Tony regarded his crayon. He really fancied red as a color and hated to abandon it to choose another. "Well my camel is red sometimes when he swims," the four year old reasoned aloud, then determinedly used the red and decorated the camel from head to tail.

He devoted his attention to finishing his picture and when the teacher called time for the pre-school class he carefully printed his name at the top of his paper: T-o-n-y.

The instructor reminded the children to gather their belongings and it annoyed Tony to discover that one of his peers, Karissa,- the undeniable bane of his existence- had taken it upon herself to fetch his coat.

"Put that down!" he ordered crossly. Not only had he not requested the little girl's help, but she had irritated him non stop all of Sunday school through a variety of offenses.

For example, she came to sit by him. He moved.

She offered him the cookie provided to her for their snack. He refused.

She patted his hand as she helped pass out the manger sheets. He yanked his hand away.

Tony kicked the toe of his shoe against the floor. It was almost unbearable trying to avoid the girl!

Karissa regarded him with knowing blue eyes. She smiled, showcasing a dimple in her left cheek.

In actuality, she was a pretty little girl.

Tony didn't care.

Her mission in life appeared to be bothering him for no good reason.

Luckily, his surrogate grandmother appeared with other parents picking up their children. Tony hurried to the door but the youth minister approached Maria first. The two moved to the side to speak privately.

Tony scowled but waited right near the Sunday school room's entrance. The ironclad rule was that students could not leave until guardians came to the room and actually took their hands. Tony knew better than to break that particular rule. He had experimented with disregarding it once and the aftermath had not been pleasant.

He watched his grandmother's expression as she and the minister conversed and waited impatiently.

A tug on his jacket alerted him of an antagonist's presence.

"Go away!" he hissed.

Karissa ignored the order. "Do you want to play with me?"

"No!"

Maria's conversation concluded and she motioned for Tony. He hurried to her and she greeted the little boy with a smile. "What beautiful picture did you make, Bambino?"

Tony presented his picture and narrated its development as they left the church and walked to the car, then chatted about a visit he had taken to the Washington Zoo a couple of months earlier.

Once home Maria fixed their lunch and afterwards put Tony down for his nap. Jethro Gibbs, the boy's father, had been called into NCIS to work that Sunday, but Maria expected him to return mid-afternoon.

Jethro actually arrived before Tony finished his nap and Maria shared the minister's hope that they could convince Tony to participate in the Nativity presentation.

The adults waited to broach the subject until after Tony awoke, ate his snack of milk and a banana, and settled on the living room floor to play with his toy cars. The Christmas tree lights blinked on and off and Tony stopped periodically to eagerly survey the presents gathered there.

Jethro took his seat and set his coffee on the table in front of him. Maria chose the rocking chair and began to knit.

"Do you know what the youth minister told me this morning?" Maria initiated the discussion.

"Nope," Tony grabbed cars in both hands and rolled them on the floor. "What did he say? Que?"

Jethro prodded, "Did the minister speak to you at Sunday school?"

"Yes," the little boy confirmed, "but I didn't listen."

Both grownups stifled smiles at the blatant honesty.

"Always listen to adults who are watching you," his father reminded him firmly.

"I know that," Tony replied, irritation beginning to show in his voice. "I listen almost all the time."

Maria decided to just hone in on the root of the problem. "Are you upset- trastornado- with your teacher or with the minister?"

Tony shook his head that he was not.

Maria regarded him with concern. "Do you think the story of Baby Jesus is special?"

Tony stopped playing and sat up dramatically. He clamped a hand over his mouth, then removed it to answer seriously. "Abuela, Baby Jesus is very special and his mommy and daddy walked a long way to find a motel. But it got dark and they got scared and they saw the barn and went to live there. Mary let Baby Jesus out of her tummy and wise shepherds came to see him because God said go visit and bring baby presents."

His narration impressed Jethro. "Good job, Tony- I can tell you have definitely paid attention."

Tony flashed his father a beautiful smile in reply.

"So the minister wants you to pretend to be Joseph, the daddy, for the church's play. He thinks you will really do a great job," Jethro shared. "Abuela and I know that he chose you because you could handle the assignment."

"So for the work you get to play act like you do here," Maria added enticingly, "because you love pretending to be Superman, or a truck, or a puppy."

"I don't want to do that," Tony insisted. "No."

Maria quizzed, "Why, Bambino? Is it the robe Joseph wears that you don't like?"

"Are you afraid that you will forget what to say?" Jethro added. "Are you worried?"

"I like his clothes, su ropa," Tony insisted.

Jethro struggled to identify the reason for the refusal. "Did you want to act in another part instead, like as a camel or a wise man? Do you not want to be Joseph, Tony?"

"I like Joseph ok."

"Then will you play him in the nativity, por favor?" Maria pressed.

Tony shook his head decisively. "No."

Jethro and Maria exchanged baffled looks. What else could it be?

What would make their little showoff turn down an opportunity for so much attention? Tony adored entertaining.

"You know that Ducky and Mrs. Mallard and Grandpa will all come to see you perform," Jethro appealed. "Abuela and I will also sit in the audience and clap for you."

Maria confirmed, "We will be so proud- muy orgulloso- watching you participate in something so important."

Not certain how to proceed from that declaration, the adults lapsed into silence.

Still, Tony continued playing for several minutes more before finally making the decision to enlighten them. He clambered to his feet and announced. "Maybe if I am Joseph then Karissa will kiss me. I don't want her to kiss me. Ever!"

That shocked the adults. Kissing Karissa had not even been one of their considerations.

Maria searched her memory for the girls in Tony's class. "Karissa is the one with the curls and dimple, right? She is muy adorable."

"Yes, that is Karissa and she is not adorable!"

"Kiss Karissa, why would you do that?" Jethro questioned.

"She said she wants me for her boyfriend," Tony scowled as he crawled into Maria's lap. He reached up immediately and began to rub Maria's hair.

"So why would she kiss you if you were Joseph?" Maria asked.

"Because the teacher said she is Mary," Tony responded dramatically, and both adults understood at last.

Their eyes met and they quickly suppressed grins.

Maria shifted the little boy in her lap. "So you think that if you play Karissa's husband it means that she will kiss you?"

"Yes," he whispered. "She said husbands and wives- maridos y esposas- kiss each other all the time."

"Well, I remember that story," Gibbs reassured him with a serious, thoughtful tone. "In fact, I know a great deal about it, as does Abuela."

Maria nodded her agreement.

Tony waited.

"In that story," Jethro stressed, "Mary and Joseph did not kiss each other. They were just happy to get shelter and relieved that they had a place to have the baby. They definitely did not have time to kiss."

"In fact, Bambino," Maria added, "the only one kissed in the story at the stable was the baby, and everyone wanted to honor him."

Tony looked skeptical. Evidently he still needed more convincing. "Karissa said husbands and wives are supposed to kiss."

"She is misinformed," Gibbs declared.

"Karissa just misunderstood," Abuela explained. "Even though they were husband and wife Mary and Joseph did not kiss at the stable."

Tony rubbed his leg.

His father leaned towards him. "What do you say? Will you play Joseph?"

"The class needs someone smart like you," Maria coaxed.

"Will you tell Karissa not to kiss me?"

"Abuela will explain that to the minister and he will," Jethro promised.

Tony's face suddenly lit and he slid off of Maria's lap and responded gleefully, "If I say I will be Joseph can I have two cookies then?"

The adults could not stop themselves from bursting into laughter at the negotiations. Cookies were considered a rare treat in the house, since Maria insisted the little boy needed to snack on fruit.

"Yes, absolutely," Maria laughed.

Tony beamed once he recognized he'd done something cute and added, "And I want another one after the play, too!"

Jethro pulled him onto his lap and tickled him. "A pint sized negotiator has obviously grown up in my own home!"


End file.
